


You Never Truly Know Anyone

by alittlepeculiar



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-11 22:14:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7909591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlepeculiar/pseuds/alittlepeculiar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look inside the Herald's adviser's and companion's minds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cassandra

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fic on ao3. It's unbeta'd so I apologize for any mistakes. The chapters are different drabbles from the POVs from the advisers and companions. The drabbles sometimes focus on their opinions, initial meetings, and general emotions about my "official" Inquisitor. Each chapter is a different POV and I will be adding chapters randomly. Please leave a comment with any of your thoughts! (I do not own any of these characters)

When the Inquisition scouts returned with the lone survivor of the explosion at the Chantry, Cassandra had already been furious. Furious for the lives lost, furious for the Divine, furious that they knew nothing, and then furious because the lone survivor was a Dalish elf. She had hoped that the survivor had been someone important like the Divine, but instead the sky had been ripped open with a giant rift in the Fade and the only one who had a chance of knowing anything was unconscious and an elf. She had no problems with elves, but the fact that the only survivor of the explosion was a Dalish elf left a bad taste in her mouth. They didn’t even have a strong connection to the conflict.

The prisoner struggled to stay alive. Cassandra’s anger only grew while the prisoner clung desperately to the world of the living. Innocent lives were lost with each minute that passed. The waiting ended thanks to the elven Apostate, Solas, who suddenly appeared to help. The prisoner lived and eventually she woke. Cassandra’s anger had reached the boiling point.

The first thing Cassandra noted when the prisoner woke was their eyes. They were slanted ever so slightly and the deepest blue Cassandra had ever seen. They had been unfocused and confused, but as soon as Cassandra began speaking, the prisoner’s eyes quickly focused and for the briefest moment Cassandra felt terror at the look of loathing that came from the piercing eyes. The hatred disappeared almost as quickly as it came and Cassandra thought she had imagined it occurring, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of being in the room with a dangerous animal.

While Cassandra spoke, the prisoner remained silent, watching, waiting.

When she finally spoke it was to ask, “You think I did this?”

Cassandra noted the curiosity in her voice as well as the trace of confusion.

From then on it was Cassandra demanding answers while the prisoner only responded with ignorance.

Cassandra’s rage faded and in its place respect slowly grew.

The Herald and Cassandra frequently disagreed on how to handle events, but the elf always listened and considered her advisor’s suggestion. When Cassandra went along on missions, the Herald proved to be an invaluable ally in a fight. Out of fights, the Dalish elf used her years of hunting experience to provide fresh meat.

But the most important thing the Inquisitor ever did for Cassandra was listen. The elf was naturally inquisitive and often times prodded (or flirted) too much, but if someone spoke to her, she would listen. Whether in the midst of a fight or walking across the courtyard, she would listen, practically enraptured by the words and would respond having paid full attention to what was said. Cassandra told her things she hadn’t told people in years, not since the Divine, and she felt lighter for it.  
She was proud to have the Inquisitor as her friend.


	2. Leliana

Leliana was disappointed when the Herald told her that she was not sure whether there was a Maker or not. But she was intrigued by the Herald nevertheless. The Herald reminded her of the Hero of Ferelden in a way. The obvious connection was that both were elves, but the Herald was a Dalish elf, not a city elf. There were other small ties between the two, but the more Leliana knew the Herald, the less similarities she saw.

The Herald was much more pragmatic. She had compassion and passion, of course, but she did not have the fiery passion the Hero had for her cause. The Herald always seemed tired and struggled to smile, but the Hero had always smiled brightly and eagerly, even at her lowest points. The biggest difference of all though, was in their fighting. The Hero fought to survive and for the cause she strongly believed in, but the Herald fought because she was good at it and because she liked to. The Herald, granted, did care for the cause of the Inquisition, but sometimes Leliana felt as if the Herald was only there to sate her own curiosity. The Herald was definitely not the hero.

 


	3. Cullen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cullen's take on the Herald.

Cullen was just glad that the rifts could be sealed the first time he actually met the Herald. He had, of course, seen her numerous times and spoken about her since she was found (and captured), but it was a completely different experience to actually meet her in person. She was a good fighter, Cullen noted with just a touch of intrigue, but her actions were confused and jumbled as she sealed the small rift. This stumble combined with how young she looked caused his hope to drain. She looked like she was barely twenty. Their fate was in the hands of someone who was barely even an adult.

He quickly found that her youth was not that big of a hindrance when sealing the main rift. She had acted swiftly, competently, and confidently throughout the ordeal. At least, up until she fainted. But that was a little more understandable.

Cullen was the most surprised, however, when they spoke for the first time, alone. Or alone as they could have been. He was drilling the Inquisition’s soldiers, but he and the Herald were the only two in their conversation. His surprise came from the easy flirtatiousness she displayed. Upon bringing it up to Cassandra later, she had laughed and said the Herald had done the same to her. Apparently, it was just something the Herald did when speaking to most people. Cullen overheard conversations between his soldiers sometimes about the Dalish elf that flit around, flirting with almost anyone.

He just hoped she wouldn’t try to flirt with their enemies. Or, Andraste forbid, nobles. Herald or no, most human nobles would not be pleased with an elf, even a Dalish elf, trying to charm them. The thought of it gave him a headache.


	4. Varric

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varric and the Herald talk about height.

Varric thought the Herald was small. Granted, she was still considerably taller than him, but she seemed small next to Cassandra and even next to Solas, and that elven apostate was thin. There wasn’t anything wrong with her stature, Varric was just surprised that the mystery survivor wasn’t some muscled Tal-Vashoth merc or a human solider. Even a fellow dwarf would have been less of a surprise. She just seemed so unassuming.

Varric quickly found out that while she might be smaller than expected, her body carried dangerous muscle which showed as she easily ripped through her demon foes before her.

Later, he learned that the Herald was not, in fact, that small. She got offended when he told her she was and she was quick to remark that she had been one of the tallest in her clan. He shot back that her clan must have been short. Her brows rose at his response, but she laughed and soon enough Varric was laughing too. The situation was silly. They were bickering over whether or not the Herald was tall when days ago a giant hole in the sky had appeared. The laughter felt good.

Her height remained a constant joke between the two of them. Varric almost died of laughter when the Herald took him the Storm Coast to meet the mercenary captain called the Iron Bull. The fight had been an easy win with no casualties for his group or the mercs and the good mood was only enhanced by the juxtaposition between the Iron Bull and the Herald.

The Iron Bull was impressive in stature and in muscle mass. Varric had seen plenty of Qunari before, hell he had lived in a city where a group of Qunari had caused trouble, but the Iron Bull would have been noticeable even amongst them. The Herald too was well muscled for her people – her current armor allowed for a bit of her arms’ muscle definition to show – and according to her she wasn’t that short, but compared to the Iron Bull, she was nothing. Her head went past his belly button, but was shy of his pectorals. And from Varric’s angle, the Ben-Hassrath’s forearm seemed thicker than her waist.

Varric’s fit of giggles from the contrast did not go unnoticed by Cassandra or Solas and earned him glares from them both. He got a glare from the Herald too when he told her how ridiculous she looked and she shoved him to the ground. Hard. Luckily for him, he grabbed her arm and brought her down with him. This action caused a brief wrestling match that paused with her pinning him and twisting his arm. It was going to end like that too, but she was pulled off of him with a yelp. When he looked up he saw her being restrained by the Iron Bull who was laughing at her efforts to escape.

He called her short once more before they went off and this time she only gave him a dirty look. She was entertaining to be around.


	5. Dorian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dorian's turn to meet the Herald.

Dorian thought the fabled Herald of Andraste did not live up to her name. That was at least, his first impression. She cut down the demons left and right, her dual swords blurred as she ripped through the room, and she closed the rift with a flick of her wrist.

Many of the rumors he had heard of the Dalish elf had called her a gentle spirit, a protector of the weak and others had called her a monster. Dorian thought that both were incorrect.  A gentle spirit would have had regret or sympathy plastered to their face while striking down their enemies. A monster would have grinned and laughed instead.

She hadn’t batted an eye as her blades cut down her enemies and the look of disinterest that had been on her face at the same time was very unnerving. He decided that the Herald was a Killer.

To Dorian’s surprise, those disinterested eyes flared in fear and then narrowed anger when she finally was able to look at him for longer than a glance.

She was curious about him and also cautious. Dorian guessed that she had had a bad run in with a Tevintor in the past, probably a mage if the strangely colored ring of skin on her neck meant anything. He did not question the mark and in turn, she treated him with civility.

Dorian thought she wouldn’t accept his help and would leave the rebel mages to their fate in servitude to a Magister, even with the threat it posed to her. She surprised him yet again when she decided to pursue relations with the mages and not the Templars.

Dorian was surprised once more with the levelheadedness she displayed when they were propelled to the future. But when Iron Bull and Sera went out to delay the demons coming in, the mask on her face slipped. When Leliana fell, it crumbled and he barely had time to drag her back in time with him before she charged to her death in a fit of rage.

They entered back into their real time with a swirling vortex and Dorian noted that the Herald’s typical collected and interested mask had been replaced with anger so cold that it burned. He thought she was going to kill Alexius right then and there, but she allowed him to be dragged off; he would be punished later.

Dorian noted with interest that her normal mask slipped back on when King Alistair and Queen Anora entered and when she took the mages as prisoners, all traces of her almost mental break down had faded.

Afterwards, he offered to stay and help with the Inquisition. The Herald smiled and accepted his offer so warmly that he thought something was wrong with her.

Dorian was again surprised when she quickly sought out his presence once free from the advisors. She hugged him for the briefest of moments, said something in elven, and walked away. He stood there, stunned until the Apostate, Solas, came up to him and questioned his decision to stay.

He liked this Herald.


	6. The Iron Bull

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Iron Bull notices a lot about the Herald and is rightfully concerned. Warning: mild descriptions of violence.

The Iron Bull was pleasantly surprised when he saw the much talked about Herald of Andraste cut down the enemies on the beachfront. Krem’s description had been spot on.  She was well practiced with her dual blades and seemed at ease using them, especially lethally. There was no hesitance in her actions when she cut right through a man’s neck that either came from experience or a born talent for killing.

The Herald was also an intelligent fighter. Bull could tell the calculated way she used her teammate’s own fighting to hide her own, allowing her to dart around easily through the opponents and cut them down without their knowledge of an attack coming. Her intelligence also showed when she was cornered by an enemy and had to fight on. She used her lower center of gravity to drop herself to the ground and take her assailant with her. She rolled on top of him and stabbed him through his eyes before he could even react.

She was a Dalish elf, he couldn’t tell what god or goddess her tattoos represented, but he wouldn’t be surprised if they had to do with hunting or death. Later he’d learn that they were Mythal’s symbol and that she got them because she was a frequent protector and rescuer of her clan mates. It was fitting. (Even later he’d watch her take one of her daggers to her face to try and scrape off the tattoos to try and distance herself from her gods after Solas’ betrayal. Cassandra had stopped her before she could.)

When they had spoken after the fight she had been careful with the words she chose and accepted his deal easily. His Ben-Hassrath training told him that her confidence was mostly a bluff. She was scared underneath the cool exterior. But her composure had snapped when the dwarf, Varric, had teased her about her height in comparison to his (she was much shorter). Bull had had a good laugh watching the two struggle on the ground before he pulled the Herald off the crossbowman before some serious damage was done.

The Herald amused him and continued to do so when they met up at the Inquisition’s camp. She was hungry for knowledge in a way that made her dangerous, but knew how to take a joke. She even flirted with him and Krem. Once she even suggested a threesome; Krem had floundered for the right way to say no before Bull cut in and told the beaming Herald no. She had simply laughed and moved on to her next target.

One thing about the Herald did have him worried: she was young. For weeks she avoided answering any questions related to her age. She finally answered after Bull beat her in a practice fight. He had had her pinned, flushed face twisted to the side in the snow. And out of breath she answered: twenty (she had turned twenty the day after the Conclave exploded). Bull almost lost his grip on her from the shock.

He had nothing against young people. Everyone was young once. But the reality of their situation was that their leader not leader was just barely an adult. Had she even ever had sex? (Bull asked her that question and the Dalish elf had laughed so hard she fell to the ground.)

But the Herald proved again and again that while her age was a weakness, she was a fast learner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of the chapters I had already finished. It will probably be a little while before I add another. Sorry!


End file.
